DEPARTMENT OF MARINE BIOLOGY. 211 



Of fishes, not less than 17 species were taken from the snappers' stomachs. 

 Three were not identified. The others were as follows: 



Abudefduf saxatilis. H. plumieri. Siphostoma sp. 



Actajis moorei. Iridio bivittatus. Sparisoma flavescens. 



Amia sellicauda. Ocyurus chrysurus. S. hoplomystax. 



Atherina sp. Scaiois punctulatus, Stolephorus sp. 

 Haemulon flavolineatuin. 



The above is a thoroughly representative hst of the smaller fishes of the 

 region. The different ones are encountered in numbers roughly proportionate 

 to their abundance. Those most commonly found were Atherina, H. plumieri 

 juv., Iridio bivittatus, Scarus punctulatus, and Stolephorus. It is interesting 

 to note that the more brightly colored types are duly represented in both 

 lists. Iridio bivittatus and Ocyurus chrysurus have patterns of strongly con- 

 trasted colors. Scarus punctulatus is perhaps the brightest of the smaller par- 

 rot fishes of the region. There are few fishes in the local fauna that are more 

 gaily colored than Abudefduf with its bands of brown, or black, and yellow 

 on a blue-gray ground, and the scarlet Amia with its two jet-black spots on 

 either side has scarce a peer. All in all, the facts neither lend nor leave 

 much support for the hypothesis that bright-colored fishes are distasteful or 

 immune. 



Seining operations upon the grass-flats yielded 24 species, but these are 

 not all members of one bionomic association. Some were represented by 

 scores of specimens and were rarely wanting in the haul, but 4 contributed 

 only 1 individual each to the grand total. These are Amia sp., Scorpcena sp., 

 Teuthis hepatus juv., and Xyricthys sp. With the exception of the last, all 

 are probably strays, and it seems Avell to omit them from further considera- 

 tion in the present connection. 



The flats upon which the fish were secured are neither completely nor 

 uniformly covered with the turtle grass. In some places its blades are 

 short, and the tufts in which they grow are sparsely distributed. In that 

 case the sand is relatively bare, or may be fully exposed in patches. This 

 seems to explain the mingling of characteristic sand-dwellers with other 

 types. Small flounders and lizard fishes (Synodus foetens) were taken upon 

 several occasions, but both bed themselves in sand habitually when resting, 

 and may be seined on clear sandy bottom near shore. Both are gray, marked 

 with flecks or bands of darker gray or brown. This color combination is 

 shared with other animals living there. Hence their characteristic environ- 

 ment is clearly not the grass flat as such, and their presence merely marks 

 its imperfection. Xystcema cinereum juv., Sphyra^na barracuda juv., and 

 Actceis moorei may be seen or taken as commonly or even more frequently 

 in other places, and may also be excluded with reason from the grass-flat 

 association. 



There is some question whether all the remaining species should be 

 retained in the revised list, but that point may be waived for the present; 

 10 of the 15 are wholly or largely of an unchangeable green color, or have 

 definite green phases that are assumed in the midst of green surroundings. 

 It is noteworthy that so large a proportion of them repeat, or are capable 

 of repeating, the dominant color-note of the objects among which they 

 live. The significance of the record is scarcely less obvious if it should be 

 admitted that all revision of the lists is illegitimate. The most mechanical 

 interpretation shows that 11 of the 24 species (45.8 per cent) whose range 

 includes the grass flats are strongly marked with their distinctive color. 

 Green occurs with no such frequency as this among fishes as a whole. Indeed, 



